Best Homes Away From Home

The Central Addition Neighborhood Rollaway

Staff Pick

George PrenticeFrank Eld waves goodbye to the Central Addition neighborhood, just prior to the Jones House being rolled away to its new location on Reserve Street.

Just past the stroke of midnight on July 1, the Jones House, which had stood in Boise's Central Addition neighborhood since its construction in 1894, slowly rolled away. It crept down Front Street and Broadway Avenue and stopped rolling at 402 East Reserve St., near St. Luke's. Making matters more surreal, Frank Eld, the new owner of the landmark home, stood atop the house's front porch, adorned in suit, tie, top hat and a cane, waving to onlookers—some of whom had stumbled out of downtown Boise bars. A month later, the Fowler House, which had also been a landmark in the Central Addition neighborhood, was moved to its new plot near Fort and 11th streets, north of the Cathedral of the Rockies. By summer's end, most of the structures on South Fifth Street had disappeared, either through moves, destruction or a combination of the two. Soon enough, developers will begin building something called "The Roost" at the site—a six-story, 160-unit residential/commercial complex which will, presumably, reinvigorate the Central Addition.